Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 345

The team assignments progressed quickly.

“I hope we’re on the same team,” Sunmyung said, waiting in line as Lenox returned with a gem.

“I’m very curious about what’s happening in the deepest part of the labyrinth. If I’m with Evan, maybe we can reach the end.”

“You seem to have too much faith in me,” Lenox replied with a wry smile.

“I’m just as lacking in information about the labyrinth. We might not be of much help to each other.”

“In that sense, I’d be better,” another female Watcher nearby said provocatively.

“I’d be more useful than that spearman. If we happen to be on the same team, let’s do our best. I’m telling you in advance.”

Sunmyung, slightly flustered, turned his gaze away.

“…What’s the basis for saying such a thing?”

“I’m a treasure hunter,” she said with a grin, shaking the rope in her hand.

“Before coming here, I was mainly exploring the ruins of the Guido Order.”

“Ruins of the Order…”

“Oh, are you interested in ruins? There are quite a few well-known ancient ruins in the Northern Continent. I’m willing to take you there after the operation is over.”

As Lenox seemed interested, the Watcher began to share various stories.

“In my case, I was mainly competing with the Arashak Ruins Exploration Team, and their leader, Irina Fesfield, was a pretty good explorer, so I had a hard time.”

“…”

When Lenox fell silent, the Watcher tilted her head.

“What’s wrong? Do you know Irina?”

“No, not exactly…”

How could he say that the treasure she cherished was now inside Lenox’s coat?

As Lenox trailed off, the Watcher tilted her head and continued.

“I thought you might know where Irina went. She was exploring the Order’s ruins and making consecutive achievements, but one day she suddenly disappeared.”

“Hmm…”

She was probably buried under the garden of the villa in the 20th district of Balkan.

As Lenox smiled wryly and touched the Archangel’s Compassion inside his coat, the Watcher sighed.

“Anyway, while that was happening, our exploration team joined the excavation of the ruins that the Arashak Exploration Team was in charge of… and I roughly realized what the Order was doing.”

The Watcher said with a bitter smile.

“At that time, I felt a bit of a sense of futility about what I was doing. I also roughly understood what kind of secrets the high-ranking superhumans were hiding.”

“…”

She had probably witnessed human experiments or similar atrocities in the Order’s ruins.

Irina Fesfield had already realized the dark side of the Order and was even using the demonic sword, but it seemed to have been quite a shock to this Watcher.

“Well, I was wondering what I could do, and that’s how I ended up here. To be honest, I’m not sure if this place will be the answer I’m looking for…”

She shrugged and concluded.

“If people with your skills are with me, it won’t be a waste of time. I’ll do my best too.”

“I see.”

“Even if we’re not on the same team, I think we can do better if we work together? I know a lot about this labyrinth, so I’ll be helpful. Let’s reach the end of the labyrinth together and see the face of Jintun.”

Her ability to subtly praise Lenox while suggesting a team was quite impressive.

Even Sunmyung, who was listening to the explorer’s story next to her, nodded unconsciously in surprise.

However, instead of answering, Lenox smiled faintly and turned his gaze forward.

“I’m sorry, but that’s going to be difficult. I think my team has just been decided.”

“What?”

The explorer turned her head in surprise and slightly opened her mouth.

A woman with black hair and calm green eyes.

Ivelyn was holding a gem of the same color as Lenox’s, smiling triumphantly.

“Hehe.”

“…”

Her uncharacteristically frivolous smile. It was exactly the same as the sly smile she had given Lenox earlier.

Only then did Lenox realize why she had been glancing at him from time to time, and he chuckled.

Considering that Ivelyn was the one who suggested the gem drawing to Lapis, there was probably only one answer.

Ivelyn had secretly tampered with the gems to be on the same team as Lenox.

Lapis, who was standing behind her, tilted her head.

“Huh? I definitely made sure the balance was right…”

Even if the teams were randomly assigned, shouldn’t they prevent situations where there was too much of a difference in skill between team members or where Watchers with weak combat abilities were grouped together?

So, she had adjusted the position of the gems according to the magic power exceeding a certain standard, but Ivelyn had managed to pick the same gem as Lenox, bypassing those precautions.

“Ivelyn, perhaps…”

“Shhh.”

Ivelyn smiled brightly and put her finger to her lips, turning her back to the other Watchers.

“Keep it a secret.”

“…”

“I’ll make sure this mission is a success.”

“Ah, I understand. A secret…”

Ivelyn, who had taken her eyes off Lapis, who was nodding with a slightly nervous expression, waved her hand at Lenox.

Originally, she hadn’t intended to go this far, but after hearing about what happened with the Defense Force from Lenox, her mind had changed.

“I can’t just sit still…”

Aris Richelieu, a professor at Lavatenon University, was it?

She had heard of the name of the young genius who had shaken the Sinclair Magic Tower and the academic world.

Originally, she had planned to slowly narrow the distance over time, but as the situation had changed, her stance had to change as well.

Ivelyn’s green eyes, looking at Lenox, turned sharp.

Grisha took a step back and watched the scene with amusement before saying to Lapis.

“You shouldn’t become like that.”

“…Yes, yes?” Lapis just tilted her head with a bewildered expression.

* * *

The Azure Eye, having formed about 10 teams through their own compromises and agreements, immediately began to move towards the labyrinth.

Grisha and Lapis remained to maintain the floating island, along with the minimum number of personnel to protect them.

Two-person teams. Their levels and abilities varied greatly, but at least the Watchers were generally satisfied with the team assignments.

As they were moving for the organization, they would have to cooperate to some extent with other teams, but the basic goal was to form teams that could handle any situation.

The aim was to keep the Watchers’ forces intact and safe until they entered the labyrinth.

[Considering the rate at which the Ascendant’s magic power is fading across the snowy field, now is the right time to enter the canyon.]

Lapis’s voice, using the floating island as a base, echoed in everyone’s ears.

Basically, even proper communication was impossible in the Ascendant’s snowy field.

Even with Lapis’s power as a lighthouse keeper, she could only send one-way communications to each Watcher. But that was enough.

Thud thud thud!!!

Several dozen blurred afterimages began to dash across the snowfield at tremendous speed, penetrating deep into the snowy field.

A forced march that far exceeded the forward speed of any off-road vehicle. But none of the Watchers gathered here were unable to keep up with that speed.

Even Lenox was sliding on the snow beneath his feet, keeping pace with the Watchers without difficulty.

[The remaining distance to the great canyon located at the deepest part of the snowy field is about 5 km. At this speed, it won’t be long before…]

[The appearance of the Ganges Labyrinth will begin to appear in front of you.]

Whoosh!

With Lapis’s words, the snowstorms that had been raging from all directions cleared away, and a dry wind began to blow in their place.

Between the parting snowstorms. A vast canyon revealed itself below the wide-open view.

A magnificent fissure that was hard to believe was the result of a geological upheaval. But there was one thing that caught everyone’s attention, more than any natural scenery that had been in place for thousands of years.

“I see.”

“This is unbelievable…”

“That was made by one person?”

Exclamations echoed from all directions.

But even Lenox could understand the Watchers’ reactions, as the scene unfolding below the canyon was surreal.

A dazzling regular tetrahedron reflecting white light.

A massive pyramid-shaped structure that seemed to have no end filled the bottom of the canyon and soared high into the sky.

The Ascendant Jintun’s Ganges Labyrinth was not just a word representing something conceptual without a physical form.

It was a physical otherworld that existed in reality, beyond the stage of simply distinguishing and defining it as a concept or word.

The result of stacking the concept of dividing boundaries to the extreme and creating something tangible was the labyrinth that stood before their eyes.

Near the vast labyrinth, hundreds and thousands of superhumans were engaged in fierce battles.

The faces of the other Watchers, who quickly scanned the bottom of the canyon, naturally frowned.

“Damn it, it’s too late to get a good spot.”

“We need to secure a spot before the labyrinth opens. It’s going to be a big deal to break through that battlefield.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Lafford, gripping his toothed greatsword, growled lowly.

“Everyone is a competitor in the process of entering the labyrinth anyway. It wouldn’t matter if we killed each other here.”

“L-Lafford, please calm down a little…”

The Watcher who was following him as his teammate was already pale.

The vampire, who was following from the back, said in a languid tone.

“If you want to go and crash into them, go ahead. Isn’t that why we divided into teams like this?”

Sunmyung, who was with her, tried to say something, but then closed his mouth.

“Lapis gave us the authority to make our own judgments. It doesn’t matter what happens until the labyrinth door opens.”

The vampire’s figure quickly disappeared from the group of Watchers.

“I’ll watch the situation from outside. You all do your best.”

“…”

Sunmyung, who was on the same team as her, followed the vampire, sweating profusely.

The other Watchers also began to exchange opinions with their teammates and move separately.

“First, we’ll break into the inside. We need to identify the identities of those ahead and gather information without taking too much risk.”

“I’ll share information as I get it.”

“Even so, we should take a look around the labyrinth. There might be other ways to infiltrate besides the designated entrance.”

“We’ll patrol the area near the canyon and look for those who are hiding. Like that woman, there might be others who are watching the situation while waiting for the labyrinth to open.”

“It’s better to identify dangerous forces in advance and avoid crossing paths with them. Shall we go?”

“I’ll check if there are any secret passages nearby. If I find a hidden room, I’ll contact you.”

Half of them were entering the battlefield, and the other half were standing by and patrolling the area.

Since the goal of entering the labyrinth was the same, not many people were willing to sit still and wait.

Lenox and Ivelyn, who were left behind as the other Watchers scattered and disappeared, quietly faced each other.

“What do you want to do?” Ivelyn said, putting her hands on her hips and tilting her head.

“There are many options. Actually, it doesn’t matter what we do.”

“That’s true…”

Every time he worked with Ivelyn, he thought that having a teammate who was too outstanding could lead to a lot of worries.

As the leader of the agents, she was called the Hidden Palace of the great city, and she was as versatile as her noble archery skills.

How could he make the most efficient use of a skilled person who could handle mid- and long-range combat as well as close-range combat?

It was certainly a difficult problem, but compared to when Lenox was the only one he could trust when doing work, the passage of time was truly impermanent.

If you think about it, it was definitely a blessing in disguise.

“You’re not thinking of going straight into the canyon, are you?” Ivelyn asked, subtly watching Lenox’s reaction.

Lenox turned his head at her words.

“Do you have a plan in mind?”

Judging from the circumstances, it seemed clear that she had tampered with the gems to be on the same team as Lenox.

If she was so excited that she couldn’t hide her sly expression in the process, then Ivelyn must have also thought of a plan to carry out with Lenox.

Ivelyn hesitated for a moment before glancing up at Lenox and saying,

“I’d prefer to wait outside with just the two of us and then go in when the entrance opens.”

“…”

“With the two of us, it wouldn’t be difficult to go inside at any time.”

Indeed, the fact that she revealed her preference first in such a moment of hesitation proved that she was an excellent teammate.

After hearing her words, Lenox also thought of something and immediately made a decision.

“There’s no need to go in right now. It would be better to set up a base a little further away from the canyon.”

“R-Really?”

“However, since other Watchers have already entered the battlefield, we should also lend a hand.”

Lenox smiled as he turned to Ivelyn, whose voice had slightly risen.

“In the way we do best, and in the way that will annoy our opponents the most.”